Peer-To-Peer Online File Sharing Networks
Peer-to-peer technology has made massive unsanctioned music exchange possible, which is having a profound effect on the recording industry. Record labels have responded to the emergence of online music networks with litigation and self-help measures. This projects adds to our understanding of the conflict within the commercial music industry. We conduct an institutional analysis of the industry in transition and extend the traditional pattern modeling methodology with a formal resource-based model of a representative online music network. The model accounts for complex causal interactions between resources, private provision of common goods, free riding and membership dynamics. We perform a series of computer experiments in which we test the likely network response to the reduction in overhead traffic and to the changes in the fraction of users who free-ride. We also explain why peer-to-peer systems are quite resilient to outside disturbances.
Principal Investigators
Oleg V. Pavlov, Associate Professor of Economics and System Dynamics, WPI
Khalid Saeed, Professor of System Dynamics and Economics, WPI
Michael Radzicki, Associate Professor of Economics, WPI
Online Simulation
A simple simulation based on a system dynamics model is available online. The simulation was developed using software from Forio.
Publications
Pavlov, O. Dynamic Analysis Of An Intra-Institutional Conflict: Copyright Owners Against Online File Sharing. Forthcoming in Journal of Economic Issues. 2005. Download the paper (471KB PDF file)
Pavlov, O. and K. Saeed. A Resource-Based Analysis of Peer-to-Peer Technology. System Dynamics Review. v.20 (3), 2004. Pages: 237-262. Download the paper (460KB PDF file)
Presentations
"A Dynamic Analysis of an Institutional Conflict Induced by Online Music Swapping." International System Dynamics Conference. Oxford, U.K., July 25-29, 2004.
"Analysis of an Intra-Institutional Conflict Within the Recording Industry." Invited lecture. Sree Narayana Guru Institute of Science and Technology (SNGIST). Thekethazham, Kerala State, India. January 5, 2004.
"A Resource-Based Assessment of the P2P Technology." International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2003). Seattle, WA, December 15, 2003.
"Growth and Development in a Virtual World of P2P." Conference on Economic Behavior and Organization. Sponsored by the USC Center in Law, Economics and Organization, the JEBO, the USC Center for the Study of Law and Politics, and the USC Letters Arts and Sciences. April 26-27, 2003. University of Southern California Law School. Los Angeles, USA.
Student Projects
"Extension Of Online Simulation"
Students: Michael Kissinger and Jeremy Tout
Advisor: Oleg V. Pavlov
[Play Simulation] [Report 16KB PDF file] [Presentation 16KB PPT file]
"P2P Economics Modeling"
Student: Wicharn Manawanitjarern
Advisor: Oleg V. Pavlov
"Why Share on Peer-to-Peer?"
Student: Robert Camera Jr.
Advisors: Oleg V. Pavlov and James Doyle
Last modified: August 19, 2009 14:58:58